advertising and other stuff. no, really.

Thursday, August 5, 2010

I *get* a lot of stuff. I *love* almost everything out there. But this second short from Orbit is killing me.* I suppose if the walls between what makes a TV spot and what constitutes online content are ever to be blown up for good, said content needs to be able live anywhere. Would this run on TV? Could it? A stripping theme alone would freak out someone’s mom. More than that though, it’s painfully unfunny. Was the thinking that because it’s the net, we can try to be risky there? Sure, you can, but risky still needs to be funny.

The premise of Jason Bateman as a stripper is interesting, but Janet Dickinson and the Dirty Mouth work already put their fringe stamp on the brand, so nothing is going to touch that. Why try here? If I had to look to a show which nails *smart evil* humor while being believable, it would have to be Always Sunny. (Ironically, TV that’s funnier than this net property that was trying to be edgy.)

The five idiot leftover actors from other commercials? Yikes. They’re more *challenged* than any you’d find in a Bud Light spot and don’t see Jason Bateman as a guy? The absurdity of the Orbit vibe in general has always been that it has these powers. (See, I do *get* it.) But there still needs to be a level of believability to the absurdity. These guys are throwing out the some of worst, most unbelievable dialog I’ve ever heard—before the gum’s magic powers even convert them. Hello undermining your own premise.

After watching this, I’m not even sure a Sketchers spot with Joe Montana would cleanse the palette and make me forget. On second thought, maybe it’s actually a stealth campaign to build anticipation over the upcoming Arrested Development movie, since this only serves to remind people how funny Bateman is in a smart comedy.